u/yungvontrier

It's probably one of my earliest memories as a child, being awoken early morning by my mom in Pakistan and going to the TV lounge where a bunch of extended relatives had huddled in front of the TV, some openly sobbing, especially as the camera cut to 4th Caliph's face in his casket.

I remember someone in my family saying 'Kitnay pyaaray lag rahai hain'.

Anyways it sticks in my mind a lot. Curious to hear if other people have similar stories.

This is something I’ve been sitting with for a while now, but I’ve finally decided to speak about it publicly.

My family is Ahmadi. We have been for generations.

Earlier this year, my cousin was applying to master’s programs abroad and reached out to one of the most well known education counseling firms in Pakistan.

She was assigned a counselor, began preparing her applications, and was in the process of applying to partner universities abroad. After some time, the firm requested additional documents, including her passport. At this point, my cousin and the entire family were genuinely excited and optimistic about her future. The firm presented itself as a professional and trustworthy institution.

The day after she submitted her passport, she received a phone call from her counselor.

She was told they could no longer proceed with her application because they had realized she was Ahmadi, and the firm does not service Ahmadis.

She was dropped. Just like that.

I still struggle to process how casually this happened. An education company, one connected to supposedly liberal, international academic institutions, looked at a student’s religion and decided she was unworthy of service.

What do you even call this except apartheid?

To be clear: my family is not naive. We know what this country thinks of Ahmadis. We have experienced anti Ahmadi hatred and exclusion our entire lives, both openly and quietly. But this still shocked us. Maybe because of how brazen it was. Maybe because it came from an institution that markets itself as modern, professional, and globally connected.

The experience left my cousin and my family deeply hurt and humiliated.

After it happened, we spent a long time debating what to do. We considered legal action. We considered speaking publicly. But in Pakistan, going public as an Ahmadi comes with real risks, including harassment, doxxing, and worse. My cousin ultimately wanted to focus on her applications and move on with her life.

But months later, I still cannot shake the anger and disgust I feel about what happened.

There is a culture in this country where discrimination against Ahmadis has become so normalized that people carry it out without fear, shame, or consequences. Screw that.

So this is my first attempt at speaking openly about it.

Maybe justice is impossible here. But I do intend to contact the foreign universities affiliated with this agency and let them know exactly how one of their “partner institutions” treats students on the basis of religion.

Love the album, but anyone else feel a bit disappointed with the music videos from it? Pulp has always had such fun and stylish mvs in the past, from TIH, Bad Cover Version, Babies, A Little Soul etc. The More ones just felt lackluster, would’ve loved to see the band actually appear in it. I think Grown Ups especially would’ve been amazing considering how visual the lyrics are and how it’s all about aging.

I wonder why they didn’t do more with them, maybe because of budgetary reasons? What do y’all feel think?